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  • Tomato juice medium

    Canned tomato juice/casein hydrolysate/milk agar, used for lactobacillus counts on saliva (in dental bacteriology).  

  • Thermoduric bacteria

    Those which can endure (but not grow) at high temperatures—for example, many spore-bearers.  

  • Thermal death point

    Index of the heat resistance of a microbial species. Normally the lowest temperature which, applied to a standard suspension of the organisms under moist conditions, causes their death in 10 minutes. The thermal death point of the non-sporing mesophilic bacteria may lie between 50°and 65°C, and between 100°and 120°C for most spore-bearers. Using dry heat…

  • Tetrathionate broth

    Enrichment medium for the isolation of salmonella species, consisting of nutrient broth plus chalk, iodine, sodium thiosulphate and phenol red indicator.  

  • Tetanospasmin

    The main component of Cl. tetani exotoxin, a necrotoxin of most pronounced potency. A toxin produced by tetanus bacilli in an infected wound. The toxin diffuses along nerves, causing paralysis, and may reach the spinal cord and brain, when it causes violent muscular spasms and the condition of lockjaw. A component of the toxin produced…

  • Tetanolysin

    Secondary component of Cl. tetani exotoxin, possessing the ability to lyse red cells. A toxin produced by tetanus bacilli in an infected wound, causing the local destruction of tissues. A hemolytic component of the toxin produced by Clostridium tetani, causative organism of tetanus. It does not cause the clinical signs and symptoms of this disease.…

  • Tellurite media

    Media for the selective cultivation of bacteria of the Corynebacterium species, others being inhibited by the inclusion of potassium tellurite, usually at a strength of 0.035 -0.04 per cent. In McCleod’s medium a heated rabbit-blood agar is employed; in Hoyle’s medium the agar includes laked blood; Monckton’s Enrichment Medium is a digest broth including the…

  • Synthetic media

    Culture media of defined and reproducible chemical composition, used for research purposes. Such media consist of simple sources of carbon and nitrogen plus trace elements. The metabolism of a given bacterium can thereby be studied by the omission or substitution of specific growth factors, such as amino acids, minerals, vitamins or carbohydrates.  

  • Swarming

    The spreading of some Proteus species on solid culture media, a feature possibly of the extreme motility of the organism. A variety of methods (none wholly satisfactory) have been devised to prevent the phenomenon, including : (1) high (4 -6 per cent) agar content; (2) electrolyte-free agar; (3) treatment of the inoculum with ether; (4)…

  • Swarm cells

    Small, motile cells released from a mother cell, one of the more recently observed mechanisms of bacterial reproduction.  

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